Millar Western’s FORWARD project nominated for Emerald Award
Millar Western Forest Products Ltd.’s Forest Watershed and Riparian Disturbance (FORWARD) research project has been nominated for a 2004 Emerald Award. Judging will take place this month, with finalists announced in early May.
FORWARD
Although limited progress has been made in Canada on integrating terrestrial habitat and biodiversity indicators into the forest planning process, little work has been done to develop local quantity and quality indicators on the land-water interface. Millar Western’s commitment to a better understanding of this interface is reflected in a $1.8 million investment in the $3.2 million FORWARD project. FORWARD not only introduces watershed management into forest planning but becomes a central determinate in developing landscape harvesting patterns by using watersheds themselves as a base for harvest design. The central objective of FORWARD is to quantify the effects of various disturbance patterns resulting from logging and fire, emphasizing riparian area management. Using a field site consisting of 16 watersheds near Whitecourt, Alberta, the project is designed to identify forest management scenarios that fall within the range of natural variation as determined for the landscape.